It's not Mexican Independence Day or anything, but "Cinco de Mayo" remains a good excuse for a party.

"We're going to have a big throw down over here," said David King, kitchen manager for Taco Mac on Ga. Highway 138 in Stockbridge.

Taco Mac will have drink specials and, starting around 9 p.m. the bands "Transmission" and "Subject to Change" will be playing.

El Ranchero restaurant at 7919 Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro will have specials on their lunches and drinks, and other bars and restaurants may have similar specials. But there is no one public celebration of the day planned in Clayton County, Orlando Villanueva with the Latin American Association offices in Forest Park.

For some reason Cinco de Mayo is more celebrated in the United States than in Mexico, Villanueva said.

On May 5, 1862, the Mexican army defeated an invading French force at the small town of Puebla.

The "Batalla de Puebla," commemorated annually on Cinco de Mayo, meaning "The Fifth of May," is supposed to be a celebration of Mexico's willingness "to defend themselves against any foreign intervention," according to an Encyclopedia Britannica Web site.

The real Mexican Independence Day is Sept. 16 and Mexican Constitution Day on Feb. 5.